West Indies pacer Ravi Rampaul has been ruled out of Trinidad and Tobago’s regional four-day match against Barbados due to a shoulder injury.
Queen’s Park Cricket Club batsman Marlon Barlcay, who scored two centuries in the T&T trials earlier this year, replaces Rampaul in the 13-man T&T squad that leaves today for Barbados, ahead of their second match of the competition starting Thursday at Kensington Oval.
T&T coach Kelvin Williams yesterday confirmed that Rampaul, who was originally included in the T&T squad named last week, was unavailable for the next regional match. He said his absence was a big blow to the team which will be looking for its second win of the tournament.
“Rampaul is now not available. Something occurred and he needs some kind of treatment. He is not available to travel with the team to Barbados,” Williams told the Express ahead of T&T’s afternoon training session at the National Cricket Centre, Balmain Couva yesterday.
“It is a huge setback for us, even though he did not play in the first game,” the coach added.
Rampaul’s return to the squad would have given T&T’s bowling a boost in the absence of all-rounders Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, who are currently in Bangladesh for the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20.
Chairman of selectors Dudnath Ramkessoon explained that ,”he (Rampaul) is recovering from a shoulder injury which has not responded well to treatment. He was looking to be fit for T&T’s game this weekend but he went to the doctor this morning (yesterday) and was not passed fit to play.”
T&T’s bowling was impressive in their opening round 172-run win over the Combined Campuses and Colleges when mystery spinner Sunil Narine took 13 wickets in the match and Williams believes that his team can compete with Barbados, even with some of their more experienced players missing.
“In these types of situations the other guys will get an opportunity to step up. The rest of the team will have to give 110 per cent and I am confident they will give that extra effort,” said Williams.
The T&T coach is also looking out for a backlash from Barbados following their loss to Jamaica in the last round of the competition when Jamaica left-arm spinner Nikita Miller taking ten wickets in the match.
Spin could be the key to a T&T victory and the visitors will be well equipped to exploit Barbados’ weakness against the turning ball with the likes of Narine and leg-spinners Imran Khan and Yannic Cariah all in the 13-man squad.
Looking ahead to the match, Williams said: “Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago have had some good four-day games and I know both teams will be up for it.
“They (Barbados) can’t afford to go two down so we have to look out for that backlash. We have to maintain our focus and stick with our game plan. It is a very important fixture for us and we need to maintain that momentum,” he added.
Williams is also wary of Barbados’ three-pronged pace attack, which includes West Indies Test bowlers Fidel Edwards and Kemar Roach as well as Tino Best.
“We know they have this three-prong fast bowling attack and they have spinners (Sulieman) Benn and (Ryan) Hinds but I am confident our players can combat their bowling,” he noted.
The T&T coach was also pleased to see the national players dominating the local Premier Division Sunday League competition over the weekend when Justin Guillen and Denesh Ramdin both scored centuries and Shannon Gabriel took a five-wicket haul.
“I think it is nice to know they got back in local cricket and dominated and this is what I am looking for from the national players. They need to dominate in club cricket and those performances will give the players some confidence and the boost that they require ahead of our match with Barbados,” said Williams.
T&T squad: Denesh Ramdin (Captain), Lendl Simmons, Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo, Justin Guillen, Jason Mohammed, Yannic Cariah, Rayad Emrit, Marlon Barclay, Sunil Narine, Imran Khan, Shannon Gabriel, Atiba Allert
Kelvin Williams (coach), Omar Khan (manager).
(Source http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Rampaul_blow-139265343.html)
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